Illusions of Betrayal
by DarkAngel1227
Summary: HG Wells was a mustache twirling super villain so her escape from limbo prison wasn't that surprising, what shocked the warehouse team to their very core was the person that helped her escape.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Illusions of Betrayal**

Summary: HG Wells was a mustache twirling super villain so her escape from limbo prison wasn't that surprising, what shocked the warehouse team to their very core was the person that helped her escape.

* * *

><p><strong>Part 1: The Pledge<strong>

Pete Lattimer yawned and stretched; he swung his feet over the bed and rested them on the wood floor. He covered his mouth as he yawned again. He hit the off button on his alarm clock that was next to his neatly stacked pile of comic books. Even in his sleep filled mind he thought it was a little strange but his stomach growling over-rode that thought, it was time for breakfast.

"How can you enjoy the sugary goodness if it's all over you face" Claudia said to Pete laughing at him as he just smiled back showing the chewed up donut in his mouth. They were at the dining room table of the B&B, the only place they could normally just relax and enjoy each other's company.

"Come on Jinxy have a donut" Pete said pushing the plate towards the new agent as he walked into the dining room and sat down. "As you can tell from my wondrous bod, it does a body good" Steve Jinx just smiled and nodded at him and picked up the bowl of fruit that Leena just placed on the table and spooned some on to his plate. "Here I'll show you again, in case you forgot" Pete said to him, pushed his chair back and started pulling his shirt up. Steve pretended to be really interested in the fruit on his plate, while Claudia shook her head laughing.

"Sit down and keep your shirt on" Artie said not looking up from the file he was looking through. The files in his hands should be simple enough retrievals but that was never how they actually turned out.

All the agents are startled when a loud sound vibrated through the room. "Whaisthat?" Pete mumbled with the donut hanging out of his mouth because his hands covered his ears.

Artie's shot up knocking his chair over and ran from the room without a word. The remaining agents looked at each other then got up followed him while still holding their hands over their ears.

"Artie?" Claudia asked when they entered the warehouse, where the sound was even louder. "What's going on, what is that. Some kind of alarm, was the warehouse breached"

"Not the warehouse, Miss Donovan" Said a female voice from the behind them. They all turn to face Mrs. Frederic who like always just appeared in the room.

"Can we turn the sound off?" Pete asked still chewing on his donut. He had never heard a sound like that before, it was like a cross between a foghorn and a fire alarm and a hundred times as loud. The whole world could probably hear it.

"It will go off on its own" she said just as it did.

"How many?" Artie asked solemnly from his chair.

"Four" replied Mrs. Frederic.

"Four what?" Jinx asked worriedly, he'd only been here a few weeks and he didn't know them well but he knew something terrible had just happened.

Mrs. Frederic looked at the new agent. "Four Regents have just been killed" Claudia's hands go to her face, Pete bowed his head, they both turned to look at Artie. "That's not all, Mr. Neilsen." Mrs. Frederic continued. "HG Wells has escaped."

"I knew it!" Pete said angrily. "I knew she was still evil, she used her freedom that _we_ gave her to plan her escape!"

"She was with you or Myka the whole time, how could she have planned anything?" Claudia asked not wanting to believe it. Despite the fact that HG was a volcano causing super villain she still liked the older woman and wanted her to change, hoped she had changed.

"Myka!" Pete yelled suddenly. "Where's Myka we have to tell her. I know she's not going to like it but she has to know so she doesn't get sucked into her evil web of lies again" Pete said breathing heavily. "That woman is a freaking black widow."

"Hey guys?" Claudia asked. "Where _is_ Myka?" Claudia knew something was different about Myka, ever since she got back she was usually last to breakfast table every morning so it wasn't unusual for her to not be there, but for this she would be and that's what had her worried.

Irene Frederic sighed. "She didn't escape on her own" she continued to tell them. She hated doing this but it was necessary. "This picture was taken by security right before we lost contact with them." She produced a folder and held it out to them.

Pete grabbed the picture out of Mrs. Frederic's hands and opened it. His breath caught in his throat as he dropped the folder on the ground. Claudia's heart beat rapidly as she bent down to retrieve it, her jaw dropped.

The picture was taken just as they turned away from the camera, their profiles were still visible and the long dark hair of both women was unmistakable.

Tbc….


	2. Chapter 2

**Illusions of Betrayal**

HG Wells was a mustache twirling super villain so her escape from limbo prison wasn't that surprising, what shocked the warehouse team to their very core was who helped her escape.

* * *

><p><strong>Part 1: The Pledge<strong>

The room felt like it was spinning. She wouldn't leave him again, she promised. Pete closed his eyes tightly to make it go away but that image was burned into his brain. "No!" he shouted. "Myka wouldn't. That wicked witch brainwashed her" he said moving wildly around the office "She went all invasion of the body snatchers on her, with that pearl thing that MacPhearson used on Leena!"

"That thought did cross our minds Mr. Lattimer, however the Pearl of Wisdom is still secure within the warehouse and as Miss Donovan said Miss Wells was a holographic projection she could not have stolen anything when she was with you."

"Then she did it before" Pete said desperately. He looked at Claudia who was still staring at the picture on the ground. Then to Artie who was rubbing his head with hands.

"She was acting different; I just thought it was because she didn't trust herself. I was giving her time. I never thought…" Artie shook his head in disbelief. He was happy when she came back, he never blamed her for falling for HG's charms, many people had. He blamed himself for not watching HG more.

"Miss Wells was stripped of every belonging when she was brought into the prison." Mrs. Frederic told them.

"What are you saying, you can't seriously believe that Myka did this…on her own" finishing that sentence was difficult for him because he still couldn't believe it, Myka wouldn't betray them, she couldn't.

"I'm afraid that is what I'm saying Mr. Lattimer." Mrs. Frederic told them.

"No" He said shaking his head. "I don't believe it." Pete turned his back to them. This was some kind of horrible nightmare he'd wake up from and everything would be fine, Myka would be here and everything would be normal, no one betrayed anyone.

Steve Jinx stood silently in the corner he had gotten a crash course on HG Wells from Claudia after he returned from his personal day since he missed his chance to meet her. From what he gathered Claudia had great respect for the woman even after she tried to destroy the world. But it was Myka who had grown the closest to her and was ultimately responsible for stopping her. He didn't know Myka that well but he didn't think she could betray her team like this.

He watched as Claudia kneeled down and picked up the black and white photo. He walked over and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Why would she do this?" she asked as she stared down the two women, the two women she admired and wanted to be like.

"Love does make you do things you normally would not." Mrs. Frederic said walking over to stand next to Claudia. Claudia raised her eyebrows in shock.

"Love? What are you talking about? Myka's not , they weren't…" Pete said trying to comprehend what Mrs. Frederic just told them. "What?"

* * *

><p>After they checked into the hotel she rooted around in the bag that Myka had packed for them, none of this would do. "Darling, we will have to go shopping" She that was one of things she enjoyed about this century, the choices. She began to go through the bag to see what else Myka brought with when she noticed that Myka hadn't answered her. She turned around to see her standing by the window holding her arms tightly to her chest.<p>

Myka Bering stared out the window at the city below them; people were just going about their day like nothing had happened. And for them nothing had, but for her she could still see the ball of fire as it burned brightly in the rearview mirror, she could still hear the hum of the car as she sped down the narrow road. Her heartbeat still felt like it was going to burst through her chest, her hands still hurt from the vice grip she had on the steering wheel.

When she first heard about the Warehouse most people would never guess she'd be one to believe it, she followed rules she was logical, but she did believe and maybe it was because she wanted to when she just a kid with her nose stuck in a book, she dreamed of the wondrous places, the magic, the danger. She wanted to be a part of it. She was a Secret Service Agent, A Warehouse Agent so she'd seen the impossible, done the impossible. Now she doing things she'd never imagine herself doing in a million years, especially this.

Helena dropped the shirt she was holding and walked over to her and wrapped her arms around her waist, without flinching; Myka simply leaned back into her. Helena tipped her head so it was besides her. Myka placed her palms on top of hers and interlocked their fingers.

Myka took deep breaths, she agreed to this, there was no turning back now; they had to finish what they had started. "I'm sorry" she whispered.

"Darling, don't be." Helena told her as she kissed her shoulder, then she trailed kisses along the side of her neck. Myka's hand rose and placed it against her cheek and Helena gently started kissing her palm. Myka turned around with her head bowed, Helena lifted her chin gently her eyes drifted over her face. "I would be more worried if you weren't". Myka sighed and leaned her head on the curve of her shoulder as Helena held her tightly.

Helena knew that Myka had given up a great deal to do this, to leave behind the family unit she made in the warehouse. Maybe Woolly was right; she did bring the devil out in people.

Tbc..


	3. Chapter 3

**Illusions of Betrayal**

HG Wells was a mustache twirling super villain so her escape from limbo prison wasn't that surprising, what shocked the warehouse team to their very core was who helped her escape.

Part 1: The Pledge

* * *

><p>She pushed open the door and her senses were overpowered as the music swelled in the background, TV's blared overhead, smoke and stale beer breath permeated the room. Myka shook her head trying not to look uncomfortable in the outfit she was wearing. Helena was adamant that they had to look the part; she had to tone her down just a bit and explain how people dress in the movies isn't always accurate to how people dressed in real life. If she had her way they would be wearing a lot more leather.<p>

The place was packed as they made their way through the gauntlet of rough bodies to the bar. Helena took a seat on the torn leather stool. Myka now understood why it was here, no one would think to look for a rare bottle of wine in a rundown biker bar, how Helena had managed to locate it was still a mystery.

Helena called the bartender over and ordered drinks for both of them. Myka raised her eyebrows and tried to hide her shock when Helena started talking in an American accent. A Brit in a biker bar would probably stand out, not that it would matter, the warehouse team would find out soon enough. Helena watched with interest as the bartender made their drinks. Myka smiled as Helena's eyes lit up with excitement when they set the drinks on fire "You do know how to have more fun with your liquor" she whispered as she downed a shot named the branded nipple. Myka quickly drank her own, she needed some liquid courage for what they were about to do.

Helena spun around in her stool and leaned her elbows back on the table trying to look tough like she belonged in the bar. Myka stifled a laugh because Helena still managed to look every bit as poised and British as she was when doing it. She held up two fingers at the bartender and turned around to survey the room with Helena.

The bartender set their drinks down, they turned around Myka inhaled deeply, smiled, clinked her glass with Helena's, tilted her head back and poured the drink down her throat. She set the glass back down on the bar and closed her eyes to prepare herself. She opened them and reached into her pocket to retrieve it.

"Are you ready?" Helena asked.

"Yes" she replied and pressed start.

* * *

><p>Pete had found a place to sit down while still reeling from what Mrs. Frederic said. He didn't care that Myka was in love with a woman, it was who she fell in love with. That woman was toxic, people got hurt whenever she was around, four Regents are dead and he hoped Myka had nothing do with that. He knows she helped with Daniel Varley but the woman tried to destroy the freaking world, that can't be just forgotten by one good deed.<p>

Claudia placed the folder on Artie's desk and wondered why she didn't pick up on that. She knew they had gotten close but she didn't think they were that close. That did explain why Myka was quieter since she came back to the warehouse. Sure she's smile at you but the minute she thought your back was turned her smile would drop. Maybe she should've talked to her about it but what would she say? It's not like she had tons of relationship experience or was ever in a relationship with someone that wanted to wipe out the entire planet. Now she was more curious on how Myka stopped her. Her and Artie just said they talked her down from the edge and Myka got her to hand over the trident.

The familiar beeping sound of a ping startled all of them out their thoughts. Artie turned around in his chair and brought up the alert on the screen. "A bar just outside Chicago was robbed and the witness recall there being a bright spinning light and remember nothing else" He told them as he looked around for his bag. "Pack light we're going to Chicago" He said as he stood up to leave.

"Myka's missing and you're sending us on a mission?" Pete asked standing in his way.

"Myka's not missing" Artie said louder than he intended and took a breath. "She made her choice" He was incredibly upset by her choice and he couldn't do anything about it especially if they all stood around doing nothing.

"No, I'm not going to give up her that easily" Pete told them strongly. "Something else is going on."

"Unless you've made the same choice you are still a warehouse agent, so get to work" Artie told him pushing past him and out the door.

Pete looked to Claudia who couldn't look at him and hurried off to follow Artie; Steve shrugged his shoulders and did the same.

Pete closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and grabbed his Tesla and walked towards the door. He turned slowly to look around the room hoping that Myka would pop out from the warehouse and say she got lost and everything was ok now. He stood there for a minute longer then sighed and turned around to walk down the hallway.

* * *

><p>"I remember it was 12:00 because the bell chimed on the clock and the next second it was 12:10." The bartender told them. He kept shaking his head like he had just woken up from a nap.<p>

"And there's nothing else you remember?" Steve asked staring at him.

"Like I told the other agent that's all I remember" he said rubbing his face with his hands. Steve looked at Pete and tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders, the guy was telling the truth.

"Other agent?" Artie asked when he joined them.

"Yeah, FBI" he replied. "A southern woman"

"Agent Stukowski?" Steve asked knowing the answer already.

'Yeah" he replied. "Wait, why is the FBI, Secret Service and ATF interested in a simple robbery?"

"We're a special group" Artie told him and started walking around the bar since he now knew what to look for.

"Since almost all the government agencies are on the case, what happened?"

Pete watched Artie as he used a pen to sift through the trash on the floor. "Blackout" he replied to the bartender.

"The entire bar blacked out for ten minutes!" He said incredulously.

"Yeah, you know how when you're walking in a forest in the dark and one person says they heard a stick crack and then everyone else hears it too and freaks out, it's like that" The bartender looked at them like they were crazy.

"Found it!" Artie exclaimed holding up a small white piece of paper on the tip of the pen."An Iceflower" He told them as he walked over to them.

"A what?" the bartender asked.

"Nothing" Artie replied "We're done here, you can go" Artie told him and waited for the bar to clear out. "An Iceflower is a firework that mesmerizes anyone that looks at for about ten minutes; afterwards they remember nothing that happened in that time." He said to Claudia and Steve.

"How'd they get an Iceflower? I thought you said they were all in the warehouse" Pete asked.

"They are" Artie replied. "This one was taken from the warehouse, the number marking is barely visible but it's there" This wasn't good, he didn't want to believe it but now he had no choice.

"Well it wasn't Studkowski, since she was here investigating it too." Steve said to them.

"Unless…she was doing that to put us off her trail" Pete suggested anything to take away from the thought process that everyone was leaning towards.

"We know who did this" Artie told them but looked directly at Pete. "The more important question is what they took" He started rummaging through his bag and pulled it out.

"Ok I'm now convinced your bag is part of the Tardis" Claudia said as Artie handed her the Durational Spectrometer. "Bigger on the inside" she told them when he looked at her, then sighed and pointed it towards the bar and turned it on.

The ghostly images started appearing filling up the empty bar with bikers of every age and size. She spun around the room to capture every inch so they wouldn't miss anything. She started fast forwarding and stopped, at the bar sat two women dressed in tight blue jeans that fit smoothly into leather boots, form fitting leather jackets and bandanas on their heads.

Pete, Arite, Claudia and Steve watched as Myka and HG Wells smiled at each other and downed a shot of something then turned around to face the room. Myka pulled a stopwatch out of her pocket, HG also took something out and they could barely make out HG asking Myka if she was ready. Then the room filled with a bright spinning light.

Artie gently took the spectrometer from Claudia whose was in too much shock to do anything else. He pressed pause and walked over to Myka to see what she holding.

Pete sank onto a bar stool that contained an image of a burly biker covered in tats. He went through the image and dropped his head. Myka was the bad guy, he couldn't deny it anymore. She not only broke a dangerous woman out of prison she was helping her now, stealing artifacts from the warehouse and whatever they took from here.

Steve really didn't know what to say to Pete and Claudia so he walked over and joined Artie. "What is it?"

"Herman Lamm's stopwatch" Artie replied sadly. "It was also in the warehouse"

"The man that taught John Dillenger how to rob banks?" Steve asked.

"Yes very good, he is considered the greatest bank robber that ever lived. He trained his team so diligently that everything had a time stamp of when it needed to be done and it all went according to his stopwatch. With it you you never have to worry about time during a robbery, you set it to the amount of time you need an hour, thirty minutes."

"Ten minutes" Steve added.

"Yes" Artie replied. "Just enough time to take whatever you need"

* * *

><p>They walked into their hotel room; they had left Chicago and were in St. Paul now. Myka took the bottle of wine out of the bag and placed it on the table. "This must be worth a fortune"<p>

"The wine, yes however the label is what makes it priceless" Helena told her as she picked up the bottle carefully to touch only the glass. Taking it off without ruining anything would be the issue. They needed steam.

"If he had it, how come he never went to look for it?" Myka asked walking over to her they both looked at the bottle.

"Your prohibition put a damper on his plans; he had to hide this bottle so it wouldn't be taken from him. So he hid it in a cellar and built a clothing store over it. He was killed before he could ever discover the treasure that the map leads too" Helena answered.

Without thinking or looking at each other, they reached into their jackets, turned around and pointed their guns at the intruder.

"Wow, you two sure are hard to find" said a woman with a southern accent.

Tbc…


	4. Chapter 4

**Illusions of Betrayal**

HG Wells was a mustache twirling super villain so her escape from limbo prison wasn't that surprising, what shocked the warehouse team to their very core was who helped her escape.

* * *

><p><strong>Part 1: The Pledge <strong>

Myka eyed the woman standing in their hotel room; she was dressed in a grey pant suit, she kept her arms causally at her side and kept a confident smile on her face despite having two guns trained on her."Hello Agent Bering" she said calmly. "And HG Wells, I have to say I'm a big fan of your work so it is a great pleasure to meet you" she said and extended her hand. Myka and Helena moved closer to her and kept their guns level. That's right" she said with a laugh and raised her hands in the air. "We never actually met." She said still smiling. "Latimer and Jinx never mentioned me?"

"No" Myka replied holding her gaze.

"Alright then, my name is Agent Sally Studkowski, FBI"

"You're FBI?" Myka asked.

"Yep I am, I have a badge it's under my jacket clipped to my belt " Myka walked over to her while Helena kept her gun trained at Sally Studkowski's head. Myka used the barrel of her gun to move Sally's jacket over to reveal her badge. "See we're on the same side"

"And what side would that be Agent Studkowski?" Helena asked her still not lowering her gun.

"The right side, of course" she answered with a wide grin. "The side that is goin' to help you get what you want"

"And what is that we want?" Myka asked.

"Revenge" she replied. "The both of you, well you more than anyone" she said looking at Helena. "Know that the Regents have acquired too much power. They think can just take people willy nilly and put them in the bronzer or in a mind prison" She said pausing for effect. "What gives them that right? Who are they really protectin' by doing that?"

"What makes you think we want revenge?" Myka asked.

"You rescued her didn't you?" she answered. "You didn't think she deserved to be a prison where they can use her mind whenever they felt like it." Myka looked over at Helena than back at Sally."The person I work for was wronged by the Regents and the warehouse as well."

Myka and Helena lowered their guns and put them back in their holsters. Sally smiled at them. She walked over to the table "A bottle of Lafite Bordeaux from Napoleon's lost cellar" She said. "This only holds part of the map you need the others to find the treasure"

"And you know where they are?" Helena asked walking up to her so she was inches from her face.

"I do" She said with wide grin trying not to back away. Helena raised her eyebrows at the FBI Agent. "Do we have a deal?" she asked.

"What kind of a deal?" Helena asked drawing out her words.

"We help each other and we both get what we want"

Helena took her gaze from Sally too look at Myka, who nodded her head slightly. "I suppose we do" Helena answered. "However there is one thing you need to do first" Helena said getting in her face again.

Sally swallowed before she replied. "What's that?"

"Drop the accent, it atrocious"

Sally bit her lip and smiled. "Fine" she replied in an east coast accent.

"So where are the other parts of the map?" Myka asked.

"Right down to business, Bering, I heard you didn't like to waste time" Sally replied. "One part is at the Met and they happen to be having an Exhibition opening tomorrow night. Treasures of the Vatican." She reached into her suit jacket. "Here are the invitations" she said and held them out. Myka took the them from her. "A fancy party, gorgeous dresses the perfect date for the two of you" Sally said grinning again.

"What is it we are looking for?" Myka asked looking at the white invitation embossed with gold lettering.

Sally smiled widely. "I'll tell you when you get there." She told them. "Trust has to be earned, so we will see how this goes and go from there. See you in New York"

"You were right" Helena said to Myka after they were sure Sally was gone. "That was quite simple" Helena expected it to be tad bit harder to get the other agency to come to them. However Myka was right, Sally didn't know that they knew about her and that made it easier.

"Well you are intimidating"

"Am I?" Helena asked with a knowing smile. She then walked closer to Myka. "I am quite looking forward to seeing you in an elegant black dress that cascades down your body…"

"I'm wearing black am I?" Myka asked interrupting.

"Of course you are darling" Helena said as she brought her lips a whisper away from hers, hovering, suspended, waiting. Myka shivered at the tendrils of awareness spiraling through her body, Helena's eyes searched hers. Myka reached up and threaded her fingers through Helena's long dark hair. Helena's mouth brushed against hers soft as down, and then she tenderly covered and parted her lips with hers. Her kiss was slow, thoughtful as if she wanted savor her. Then her mouth left hers to explore a path down her jaw line to the curve of her neck, causing Myka's lids to flutter closed.

"Helena" Myka said in a breathy whisper.

Upon hearing her name, Helena lifted her mouth from the pulse of her throat to gaze up at her, taking her face in her hands, and stroking her cheeks with gentle thumbs. Her eyes filled with desire. This time, Myka took the initiative, and she parted her lips and lowered her lips and recaptured hers, more demanding and heated this time.

Myka pushed her backwards as they peeled each other's clothes off letting the garments make a trail as they fell onto the bed.

There was no thought, only sensations sent in short bursts to her brain. The heat of her body, the comfort of her arms around her, the demand of her lips and tongue and teeth matching her own urgency, her breath mingling with hers, the moan that escaped the back of her throat, echoing hers, the sudden, unexpected aching rush of want and need

* * *

><p>Pete walked into his room at the B&amp;B, he tried taking deep breaths to calm himself but he was so angry. He closed his eyes but all he saw was Myka breaking HG out of prison and Myka smiling sitting at a bar drinking shots with HG then using artifacts she stole from the warehouse. He opened his eyes, screamed and swung his arm out over his nightstand; his comic books went flying everywhere. He looked on surprised as a yellow post it gently floated down to land on his SupermanBatman Generations issue #1.

He knelt down to inspect it, it was sticky side up there was writing on the other side. He picked it up and turned it over. It was Myka's handwriting, it said two words **Trust me**.

Tbc…


	5. Chapter 5

**Ch 5**

**Illusions of Betrayal**

HG Wells was a mustache twirling super villain so her escape from limbo prison wasn't that surprising, what shocked the warehouse team to their very core was who helped her escape.

* * *

><p><strong>Part 1: The Pledge<strong>

Pete fell backwards landing hard on his butt and leaned his head against the side of his bed; he held the post-it in his hand staring at the words. _Trust me_ she wrote nothing else Myka who always babbled on about everything, only left him two words. Two words that could mean anything, trust her to always be there, trust her when they played checkers, trust her to clean up his room...suddenly Pete thought back to that morning when he noticed that his comic books were stacked neatly by the side of his bed and he would never do that, which meant that Myka was in his room the night she decided to do whatever it was she was doing. "Trust me" he repeated those words over and over in his head.

They stood shoulder to shoulder at the exhibit opening at the Met; the Great Hall of the museum was flooded with celebrities, politicians and the extremely wealthy. Myka surveyed the room; acoustics it seemed had not been a prime consideration of the museums design. The string quartet tucked away in the corner was almost inaudible over the dull roar of the crowd.

Myka couldn't hide her smile as she looked at Helena, she was dressed body twirling shinny silver beaded black evening dress that she finally settled with after spending hours trying on almost every dress in the store. She told her that she didn't like dresses when she was required to wear them but now she could enjoy them however she pleased.

Helena watched the gorgeous men and women move around the museum. However none were as beautiful as the woman next to her. Myka was wearing what they called a black halter dress with deep v neckline that was quite distracting. Helena smiled and trailed her hands down Myka's back, Myka smiled at her. At her waistline the dress had a white satin sash that elegantly flowed down the dress. She quite enjoyed that the dresses in this century were made to show skin even the evening gowns.

"They should be letting us in soon" Sally Studkowski said as she joined them.

"Are you going to tell us what we are looking for?" Helena asked

"From the information I found online this is quite an extensive exhibit" Myka added.

"I am aware, what we are looking for will not be hard to find" Sally told them and walked away from them because the crowd was now being motioned into the exhibit.

Helena and Myka followed everyone inside the exhibit hall. Almost all the treasures in the room were enormously valuable so they were displayed behind glass cabinets. They took in the various displays; most of the pieces sent over from Rome had never been previously shown to the public. There were solid gold Crucifixes encrusted with precious jewels, a six-foot painted Spanish Easter candlestick that from the placard in front had been the pope's own apartment. Near a very elaborate marble statue they found Sally Studkowski looking at the meticulously carved reliquaries. One in particular stood out the chest was paneled in gold atop it sat two winged figures.

"I take it, that's what we are looking for?" Myka asked Sally who nodded in return.

"Shall we then" Helena asked looking to both of them. Sally nodded to man in a guard's uniform.

"May I have everyone's attention" The guard said and they waited for the entire room to be looking at him. Myka removed the camera from her bag and pressed the button; all the people in the room were frozen as black and white 2d versions of themselves.

Myka took one last glance at Helena who smiled at her. She went to her post at the exit while Sally went to the entrance. One of the many advantages they had was this was a special exhibit so the museum designed it in way that everyone had to follow the same path which meant only one entrance and one exit. So no one could walk in on them while they worked. Plus who would think that someone would rob the museum on the opening night in a room filled with people. With the artifacts they had it would've been impossible.

Helena took the purple gloves out of her clutch put them on and placed the Ellipse on the alarm system and waited until the lasers were turned off. She lifted the glass case off and set it on the ground, she slowly lifted the lid and felt around for the false button when she found it she pressed down and lifted it up. There on the red velvet was the rolled up parchment. She carefully removed it and put everything back in its place. Helena then pulled out her cell phone to text them, she stared at it for a few minutes, she did hate texting the buttons were too small and too sensitive and she wondered why they even bothered calling it a phone she hardly ever saw anyone using it for that function. She sighed and typed in that she was done.

Myka pressed the button on the camera and the guard finished his announcement like nothing had interrupted him.

Claudia followed Artie back to the warehouse; he hadn't said a word since he told them the items Myka used were from the warehouse.

Artie stood by his desk with his hand covering his mouth looking around at the clutter on his desk. He then went to his computer and started typing. "Ok, you didn't take anything else from the warehouse" he said falling back in his chair. "What else did you take?" he muttered to himself then suddenly his head snapped to the side and he stood up quickly, ran to corner and pulled out his bag. He set it on the table and opened it up. His hand gripped the sides of the desk as he closed his eyes.

"Artie? What?" Claudia asked not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Artie turned to face her. "The artifacts I had in my bag, they're gone."

Claudia sucked in her breath. "She stole from you" Claudia ran her hands through her hair. Myka not only stole from the warehouse she stole from Artie.

"How did she know what was in my bag?"

"They looked through it when you were kidnapped by that dude in Russia." Pete said from the doorway. He told them that it wasn't a good idea to look through Artie's bag but then they started talking really fast at the same time and it was two against one.

"They?" Artie asked.

"Myka and HG" Pete told them. He wanted to know what was going with Myka and why she didn't tell him. "She left us this" He said holding the post-it to them.

Claudia took it from his hand. "Trust me? What does that mean?"

"It means we have to trust her"

"Trust her? She stole from Artie, Pete and all she left us with is two words!"

"I know, but it's Myka, Claud. To her words mean everything!" He told them wanting so badly for it to be true. She said she wouldn't leave him again and the post-it was her way of telling him she didn't, that what he had to believe, that's what he needed to believe.

"Her Tara died and she's gone all dark Willow on us…only her Tara didn't die...she got trapped in a Pokémon prison…"

"That's enough!" Artie said interrupting them. "I don't know what any of that means" He said to Claudia. "And I don't know if we can trust Myka but we do need to find out what she's planning with HG." He made Claudia and Pete go into the warehouse filing section to see if Myka had looked through any of HG Well's old case files recently. It may not give them any information but whatever HG was planning she had to have planned it before she went back to prison. He also had Steve looking through the records of that bar in Chicago to see what else was at that address through the years to help them try and find whatever it was they took from it. Artie Nielsen picked up the post-it and sighed, the one thing that bothered him the most was how did Myka even know how to find the prison? He didn't even know where it was.

Tbc...


	6. Chapter 6

**Ch 6**

**Illusions of Betrayal**

HG Wells was a mustache twirling super villain so her escape from limbo prison wasn't that surprising, what shocked the warehouse team to their very core was who helped her escape.

* * *

><p><strong>Part 2: The Turn<strong>

Claudia Donovan stood in the file room staring at the cabinets labeled Warehouse 12. She was a computer person not a paper person, this would take forever and on top of that Myka was meticulous with a photographic memory it would be impossible for her to find anything out of place.

She glanced over a Pete who was pacing the room, he stopped in front of one of the cabinets and grabbed on to it. Then he started kicking it.

"Pete, whoa" Claudia said going over to him and putting her hands on his shoulder. "If she told us to trust her, then we trust her"

Pete looked over at her. "I thought you said she went dark Willow on us" He was still having trouble processing everything.

Claudia looked away from him and plopped down on a nearby box. "I don't know what to think Pete" she said as she took a deep breath. "Myka would never leave us, not like that…not after everything…" she turned her face to hide her tears.

Pete walked over and sat next to her on the box. "No she wouldn't" Pete agreed and put his arm around Claudia's shoulders. He felt like his life was unraveling, first he found out his mother is a Regent, and then Myka joins the bad guys but wants him to trust her. Why would no one tell him what was going on?

***a few weeks ago***

"_Let's go save the world, Lattimer" Myka said adjusting the tip of the fedora on his head._

"_Whatever you say, sweetheart" Pete replied in a 20's gangster voice. She turned around and laughed. That was what he was good at, making her laugh when she needed too._

_They walked into the B&B and Claudia ran up to them, "There's a Star Trek Voyager marathon running right now" she told them excitedly._

"_Oooh!" Pete said matching Claudia's excitement. "Myke's? Pete turned around to ask her._

_Myka smiled at them as much as she loved hanging out with watching tv and listening to them talk over each other explaining the characters and plotlines to her. She wasn't in the mood right now. Working with Helena again, being with Helena again reminded her how much she missed having her around. "I'm tired" She told them as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I think I'm just going to take a shower and go to bed"_

_Pete and Claudia nod their heads in understanding and glanced at each other before taking off to race the other to television. Myka smiled shook her head at them._

_The long shower felt good, she didn't realize how tense she was. She padded over to her bed, pulled the covers back and crawled in it. She really was tired so it wasn't long before her eyed drooped closed._

_When she opened them she found herself standing in a lounge of some sort, the walls were all white and there was a couch on one side and table with some chairs on the other. Myka spun around the room trying to figure out where she was, she went through her mind of rooms she'd been in but this one was in it._

"_Hello Myka"_

_Myka's heart skipped a beat at the sound of the British voice. "Helena?" She turned around and saw her standing by the couch. God that woman was beautiful she thought to herself even while dressed casually in jeans and loose fitting blouse. She must be dreaming. Myka bit her lip and smiled at Helena._

_Suddenly a door she hadn't noticed before opened "Mrs. Frederic?" Okay she thought not the dream she had in mind._

"_I suggest you take a seat Miss Bering" Mrs. Frederick said to her gesturing towards the couch._

"_This isn't a dream?" Myka asked hoping it wasn't because she really didn't want to have that type of a dream with Mrs. Frederic being there._

"_It is not a dream, Darling" Helena told her and motioned for her to join her on the couch._

"_Then what's going on? Where am I? What is this place?" Myka asked without taking a breath._

_Helena smiled at the younger woman trying to comprehend what was happening. "We transported your consciousness here, you're body is still at the Bed and Breakfast"_

"_My consciousness? Like they do with you, with the sphere?" Myka asked._

"_In a sense, yes" Helena answered._

"_So where am I?"_

"_We are all in a special room made for this purpose; to everyone else we are asleep in our bedrooms" Mrs. Frederic replied._

_Myka looked at both of them. "Okay...so why are we doing this?"_

"_Because…" Helena paused to look at Mrs. Fredric, who nodded her head. "Because we need your help" Helena told her._

_"With what?"_

_"To save the world of course" Helena replied with a smile. She then sighed, brought her hand to her necklace and gripped it tightly._"_What we've been trying to accomplish has been going on for a great many years"_

_***End***_

They stumbled into their hotel room the after exhibit party included quite a lot of wine. Myka reached down to pull her heel off, she's unsteady on one leg and falls forward, she laughed as she fell into Helena's arms.

Helena kept one hand around her waist and she leaned her hand on her shoulder to take her other heel off it reached the floor with a soft thud. With their heights more even now she gazed into her eyes as she brushed a loose strand of hair from Helena's face.

Helena smiled and leaned in, her lips ghosting over hers, so soft, so tender. Myka's eyes fell shut and her breath seemed to leave her entirely. No one had ever awoken the passion in her the way Helena did. Her lips met her with a little more pressure every time the kissed. Their noses brush, breathes mingle, lips fitting together perfectly, tongues tangle and teeth graze.

Myka glides her hand along Helena's back and unzipped her dress letting it slide to the floor. She stepped back to admire her lover's body. Helena smiled as Myka turned around and she went over to her unzip her dress and trailed kisses down the back of her neck and across her shoulder.

With her arms wrapped around Myka's stomach they walked towards the bed. When they reached it Helena slid her own heels off as Myka turned around and pulled her towards her mouth and they fell on the bed. Helena licked the seam of her lips before pushing past them, seeking out her tongue. Their lips pressed against each other and retreated, their tongues pushed against each other, their teeth nipped against each other's lips before they pulled apart both panting for air. She gazed into Myka's eyes getting lost in her desire, delicate hands slip up her back, fingers tracing her spine. Helena ducked her head, her mouth meeting Myka's once again.

Helana stretched and reached over and felt nothing but the mattress on Myka's side of the bed. Alarmed she opened her eyes and rolled over. She found Myka sitting on a chair wrapped in a hotel robe staring out the window hugging her knees to her chest.

Helena got out of the bed let the blanket drop to the floor and walked over to her. Myka smiled at her when she saw her approach. "For a Victorian woman you sure have no qualms about nudity"

"Well I never was your average Victorian woman" Helena replied with a smirk.

Myka laughed "I highly doubt you were ever average at anything"

After they showered and changed, they ordered room service. Sally had yet to contact them again so they planned on lounging around their hotel room. When there was a knock at the door Helena rose to answer it, outside their room stood a tall handsome man in a dark black suit with their tray of food.

"I wasn't aware this hotel was that formal" Helena said to him.

"My name is Marcus Diamond, may I come in?" He asked and Helena opened the door further allowing him to enter. Myka watched him as he pushed their food cart inside and Helena shut the door.

"What happened to Sally?" Myka asked as Helena went to join her on the couch.

"Sally took care of her part, so you will no longer being meeting with her" Marcus told them as he folded his hands in front of him.

"So when do we get meet Batman?" Helena asked getting a shocked raised eyebrow from Myka. "You're obviously just the sidekick" she finished then turned to Myka. "Pete showed me those brightly colored picture books that he reads."

"Comic books?" Myka asked a little shocked she couldn't imagine Helena reading a comic book.

"Yes, comic books, they are quite short however they storylines that Peter explained to me were quite intriguing." Myka smiled and shook her head; comic books and Tomb Raider were most likely from Pete's influence.

"You will get to meet my boss; he is quite looking forward to it. But first you must retrieve something for him. There's a bracelet that belonged to him that is now located in the warehouse."

Myka was too nervous to eat after Marcus Diamond had left. "I can't do that Helena, I can't go back and break into the warehouse" she said walking back and forth across the room. She was relieved when Helena and Mrs. Frederic's' told her that Helena wasn't a traitor, that it was all an elaborate plan that she was now a part of. But she couldn't break into the warehouse and sneak around behind their backs, not now, not when they think she's betrayed them.

"Darling don't worry about it, I'll do it." Helena told her and took Myka into her arms. "They really can't hate me anymore than they already do."

"Did they tell you the location of the third section?" Mrs. Frederic said as she popped in behind them, scaring them.

Myka held her hand to her chest trying to calm her racing heart. She really was curious how Mrs. Frederic managed to do that all the time. This time she was joined by Jane Lattimer.

"Not yet" Helena answered. "They want us to get Carlo Collodi's bracelet from the warehouse."

"He wants to join you when you put the map together" Mrs. Frederic said with a sigh.

"Isn't that what we want?" Myka asked. "Wouldn't it be easier if he was there?"

"Yes, Miss Bering it would be" Mrs. Frederic replied. "It just makes the risks that much greater. Should we wait?" She turned to Jane and asked.

"We might not get another chance to meet" Jane answered. "Are you sure you're ready for this Myka?" Jane looked to the younger woman who was breathing heavily trying to calm her nerves. This was all new to her, they have all had years to contemplate and second guess and accept the plan. "If you're not…"

Myka took a deep breath. "I told you I was in this, so I'm in this. It's time to cowboy up, right?" She answered strongly with a smile and Jane smiled at her. She and the rest of the Regents knew they had made the right choice.

_Tbc…_


	7. Chapter 7

**Ch 7**

**Illusions of Betrayal**

HG Wells was a mustache twirling super villain so her escape from limbo prison wasn't that surprising, what shocked the warehouse team to their very core was who helped her escape.

* * *

><p>Part 2: The Turn<p>

She was dizzy, confused and nauseous when she first arrived; she took deep breaths to clear her thoughts while trying to steady herself on one of the nearby shelves. She often wondered how the Guardian got around; it was quite ingenious however the side effects were troubling Mrs. Frederic said it took some getting used to, she now wondered how long that took.

When she felt like the room had stopped spinning she took tentative steps forward she didn't have much time to waste.

She kept her eyes focused straight ahead, she always hated the dark vault, the sense of dread and foreboding was evident the minute you stepped inside. The chills ran down her back as the room became colder Helena quickened her pace and found the bracelet. Her gloved hand reached up and opened the wooden box.

* * *

><p>"That's a nada on the dark lord's files" Pete says as he and Claudia join Artie and Steve in the office.<p>

Artie sat at his desk, hands clasped in front of him, eye darting back and forth, spread out across his desk were dozens of blue prints and articles about the previous occupants of the bar in Chicago that Steve had brought back.

"What are we looking for exactly?" Steve asked carefully turning the pages of the yellowed newspaper.

"Anything that stands out or seems like it doesn't belong" Artie replied studying the various layouts looking for a hidden room. Whatever they took had to be hidden to have been untouched for all these years. "Here" Artie said suddenly. They all look up at him. "It's here" He said pointing to an empty space then he takes earlier layout and places it on top, picks both of them up and struggles a bit to hold them up to light. Pete and Steve help him and hold the sides up. "See right there" And they see that the empty space used to be a room.

"What year is that layout from?" Claudia asked.

"1929" Artie replied. "It was a clothing shop."

"Why would a clothing shop have a secret room?" Claudia asked

Steve thinks about it for a minute. "1929 that was during the prohibition, maybe he was hiding…"

"They stole liquor?" Pete asked incredulously. "I know she probably has fancy tastes being a fancy Brit and all but they went through all that trouble with the light show for what? A bottle chateau rouget" Pete says in a cartoon French accent.

Artie's face lit up at that. "There have been rumors that Napoleon used a wine bottle to smuggle a treasure map" Artie told them as he runs into filing room, they follow him in. He pulled open a cabinet and started rifling through the files. "Ah!" he said pulling out an aged green folder and runs back into the office. He opened it and spreads its contents on the table. "Warehouse 11"

"In Moscow" Steve piped in. "…And Napoleon was trying to overthrow Czar Alexander the first, he failed but it scared the Regents and they moved the Warehouse to London"

"Very good" Artie replied.

"Show off" Pete said in a mock amusement.

"It was in the handbook"

"You read that too? Am I the only one that doesn't have time to read a book that's like a gazillion pages long?" Pete asked and Steve just raised his eyebrows and goes back to see what Artie was doing. Pete turned to Claudia who shrugged her shoulders at him.

The flashing lights and bleating sound of the warehouse alarm started going off. Claudia runs to the computer and started pulling up her back end screens for the alarm system she installed. Pete and Steve got out their tesla's and run into the warehouse.

"Pull up the camera!" Artie said sternly.

"I'm trying, someone's blocking it" she replied as various screens with coding start popping up. "Someone's hacking my system!" she said shocked.

Pete and Steve walk into the warehouse with their guns drawn; they look at each other then back at the infiniteness of the warehouse. "Are we looking for a who or a what?" Pete asked making his way through the warehouse.

"I don't know yet" Claudia answered.

"Fun" Pete said as his eyes darted around the warehouse, that narrowed it down to someone or something that could kill them.

"Find out!" Artie said instructing Pete and Steve through the different sections of the warehouse.

Now she was a little angry while being a little impressed. But no one was as good as her. She rolled up her sleeves, cracked her neck and her fingers start flying across the keyboard at breakneck speed. "You wanna play, let's play"

* * *

><p>"I'm losing it!" He said while still typing as quickly as he could. Whoever was on the other end was very good.<p>

"Come on Tyler I thought you said you were the best" Walter Sykes said wheeling over to him to look over his shoulder. They were so close, he wasn't about to lose it now because of some puck hacker. He needed that bracelet.

"She's working through my defenses faster than I can rebuild them" he said as he typed more coding in the computer. He was starting to sweat, the hacker they had was impressive, he could hardly keep up but he wasn't about to tell the psycho leaning over his shoulder that. He really just wanted to go home; he didn't mean to spread computer virus that turned people into clay, his grandfather gave him the necklace. How was he supposed to know what it did? Then some chick from the FBI said in order to get the charges dropped he had to help them catch a terrorist. So now he was trying to hack a computer system that he'd never dealt with before, while fending off a hacker that was better than him so HG Wells could break in and steal a bracelet that could make the evil guy in the wheelchair walk again.

Myka smiled in the SUV sitting a few miles outside the warehouse as she listened to what was happening back at A to Z Technologies from her ear piece. She knew Helena was still in the warehouse and they needed to protect her but she was proud that Claudia was the better hacker.

"How did she get into the warehouse?" Sykes voice asked her.

She brought her hand up to her ear to press the button to respond "Sharing secrets has to go both ways and you haven't been entirely forthcoming with us, trust has to be earned. Mr. Sykes" Myka said with a smile. They called Marcus and told him they'd get the bracelet but they needed help to get around the warehouse's security system. He sent a car for them within the hour and brought them to A to Z Technologies to meet Walter Sykes.

"Shit!" Tyler shouted and slammed his fists on the computer as the messages on screen said Connection Lost.

* * *

><p>The video feed appeared on the computer. "HG" Claudia said with the disappointment evident in her voice as she saw her pull something down off the shelf and stuck it in her bag.<p>

"HG!" Pete repeated. "Of course it is" He said through gritted teeth.

"She's in the dark vault!" Artie told Steve and Pete trying to hold back his anger. "Get her before she can leave with whatever she took." Claudia and Artie watched as HG turned suddenly and looked straight at the camera, smiled and gave a little nod.

Pete and Steve enter the dark vault with their guns out in front of them, staying to the middle since everything in the dark vault was the kill you kind of dangerous. They split up to go down the aisles. Pete rounds the corner and sees her. She takes of running zigzagging down the aisle making it impossible for him to get a clear shot, he was too afraid to just take it because he didn't want to hit any of the artifacts.

He sees Steve on the other end and signaled to him that HG was the next aisle. They turn quickly around their opposite corners and are met with an empty aisle..

Myka nervously tapped her foot on the floor. She sighed as she rested her elbow on the window sill and placed her chin in her hand. She turned her head to the side and her heart nearly burst through her chest as Helena had just appeared in the passenger seat.

Helena couldn't even look at Myka she was too busy trying to keep herself from being sick. She was already thinking of ways to make it easier; although she was pretty sure Mrs. Frederic wouldn't let her keep it.

Myka placed her hand on Helena's knee and Helena gave her a weak smile. So she pressed the button on her ear piece. "We have your bracelet."

* * *

><p>She sat in the chair sipping her tea and reading her book when the sudden commotion startled her. She placed her book gently down on the arm of the chair and stood up.<p>

One of the guards burst through the door "They found you Mrs. Lattimer, we have to move you quickly"

"Of course" she replied. They were earlier than she expected. She pulled down her sleeve slightly and took one last look at the shackle.

Tbc…


	8. Chapter 8

**Ch 8**

**Illusions of Betrayal**

HG Wells was a mustache twirling super villain so her escape from limbo prison wasn't that surprising, what shocked the warehouse team to their very core was who helped her escape.

* * *

><p><strong>Part 2: The Turn<strong>

They walk into the office of Walter Sykes, he rolled over to them not bothering to hide the school boy excitement on his face as he held his hands out for the bracelet.

Helena held the box in her hand and pulled it out of reach. "While I do appreciate a good mystery, I do not like being kept in the dark, Mr. Sykes."

Myka moved slightly closer to Helena when she saw Sykes eyes start to turn black. She pulled her sleeve further over her covering her palm, hoping it looked like she was just nervous. She'd done undercover work in dangerous situations before and she's dealt with the craziness of the warehouse, but when she looked into Walter Sykes eyes she saw pure unadulterated evil. She knew Helena had seen it too. They couldn't take any chances if this was going to work.

Helena held his gaze though it was difficult seeing the darkness in his soul but she didn't waver. Belief can be very powerful and they needed him to believe that were on his side.

He closed his eyes and took a breath. He knew when he sought them out that they would not do anything without knowing what they were getting into.

He opened his eyes and rested his hands on his lap. "The Regents have taken things from us, things they had no right to. They want you to give your life to the warehouse and what do you get in return? Death, if you're lucky, but if you do something they don't agree with, they trap you in bronze or a imprison your mind." He paused and looked at HG "Who even knows what they would've done with your body, had Agent Bering not rescued you." He paused "The power they have they do not deserve." He said without hiding the venom in his voice.

Helena nodded and held the box out to him. He ripped out of her hands greedily and opened it. He slid the bracelet on his wrist and they all watched as it looked like strings appeared on his limbs and brought him standing upright. He took a few steps and a smile spread across his lips.

He walked over to a table in his office where he had the two maps that they had brought him laid out. They followed him over and he nodded to Marcus. "The Regents have been trying to keep the locations of these maps hidden for centuries; they are so paranoid about them that they are constantly moving their hiding spots."

Marcus brought over a black case; he set it on the table and opened it. He gently took out a piece of faded paper and placed it next to their maps. "Once all three are together they will lead us the final piece." They all watched in as the each of the maps pieces pulled together and sealed themselves with a golden light. Then a path on the map lit up, leading them from their location across the ocean into Europe and stopped at the southeast coast of France. The map enlarged itself and took them into the city of Marseilles, across more water to an island called Ile d'lf, whose only inhabitant is a prison.

"The Chateau d'lf" Helena said as the map focused on the vast fortress prison.

"Edmund Dantes" Myka said as they watched the map zoom in close

"Of course the prison made famous by The Count of Monte Cristo" Helena said with a smile at Myka. She had to admit even with their mission clear this was getting ever so exciting. They were to break into the escape proof prison.

"Can you manage it?" Sykes asked them.

"Of course." Helena replied.

"What exactly are we to be looking for once we are inside the prison?" Myka asked following the lighted path through the many passageways of the prison.

"A key" Sykes replied.

"A key?" Myka asked.

"Yes, Agent Bering. This key is something that Regents hoped no one would find. Because the key leads us the second map, the map that shows the whereabouts of the Regents most sacred treasure."

* * *

><p>Artie joined them inside the dark vault. "She just vanished, that is what you are telling me!"<p>

Pete tried not to look as ashamed as he felt. "Yes" he felt like a kid being scolded at school when Artie got like this.

"He's telling the truth" Steve piped in. "I saw her run into the aisle, when we got there she was gone"

"And she took the Collodi bracelet" Claudia said as walked over to them with the portable scanner in her hand. "Which means…"

"They're working for Sykes" Pete said through his breath. Myka said to trust her but each day it was getting harder and harder too. His mother took the bracelet away from Sykes because it would make him evil and Myka and HG turn around and give it back to him. If he didn't know what the hell was going on how could he trust her?

"I think it's time we bring the battle to them" Claudia said and looked at them. "Walter Sykes is the CEO of A to Z technologies; his office is in St. Paul, Minnesota."

"Are you guys getting anything?" Pete asked as he and Claudia moved through the offices of A to Z Technologies. His gun was drawn and he held a heat signature reading in his other hand.

"Nothing" Steve replied from the upper floors of the building. "Wait" he called out. "I got movement on the lower levels. It looks like a parking garage"

"Okay, we got it" Pete replied and took off running.

"Pete, wait" Steve shouted into the comm.

Pete held his finger to his lip as they approached the parking garage from the stairwell. They heard footsteps and talking. They both flattened themselves against the wall and Pete moves slightly to peer out from the corner.

He saw Sykes walking towards a black SUV waiting in the middle of the garage; his lackey was close behind him. Then his eyes widened in shock as he saw his mother with her hands bound behind her with Myka holding a Tesla to her back.

"Mom!" he shouted and ran from their hiding spot with his gun held out in front of him.

"Pete" Claudia shouted as she tried to grab him.

Marcus pulled out his gun and pointed it at them. Pete had his Tesla but these guys didn't deserve to be taken in alive. Claudia raised her Tesla at Myka, she knew her hands were shaking and she didn't know if she could bring herself shoot her.

Jane had turned around and was facing her, Myka looked to Jane with the gun still pointed at her and Jane gave a slight nod to her head both of them knowing what she had to do to keep everyone alive.

"Pete, run!" Jane shouted.

Myka pulled the trigger and the force knocked Jane against the SUV. "Get her in the car" Skyes shouted and the two guards that were following her shoved Jane's unconscious body roughly in the car.

Then Myka turned her gun towards Pete.

Claudia knew they needed to stop them, so she took a deep breath and steadied her hands. She looked around and her mind snapped to one thought. _Where was HG? _Then she felt a metal barrel pressed against her back and her arm reached across her and took her gun from her hands.

Pete glared at the woman that he thought was his friend, his partner and watched as she shot his mother without a second's hesitation. He leveled his gun at Myka.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Pete" her British accent broke into his thoughts. He turned to see her holding Claudia by the waist with a gun pointed at her head, not a Tesla a real gun. Pete felt the anger rising in his veins because he knew HG could kill her, she tried to kill the whole world, one person would be nothing to her.

"Pete, trust me you want to drop your weapon" Myka said keeping her eyes locked onto his.

Pete heard those words leave her lips, he remembered her post it. _Trust me. _

He looked into Myka's light brown eyes as they bore into his, the vibe he was getting from wasn't evil and the look in her eyes wasn't one of darkness. It was just Myka looking at him, looking through him into his heart. He dropped his gun and held up his arms.

"Good choice, Lattimer" Helena said and pushed Claudia into him.

Myka watched Pete catch Claudia in his arms she took a breath and pulled the trigger on her Tesla, the blue electric current surround them like a coil and they both fell with a thud on the hard concrete of the parking garage.

She saw Marcus' hand move to the hostler on his shoulder. "They can't follow us, leave them" Myka said worried she had spokn to quickly. "Dead bodies will draw too much attention"

"She's right, leave them, Marcus, I want to find the last piece and I don't want to waste any more time get back in the car and drive." Sykes said sliding in the passenger seat.

Myka has to work at hiding her relief; she feels Helena's hand grasp hers as they drive off. She needed her strength now to keep from looking back at Pete and Claudia.

Claudia raised her hand to her head and took deep breaths, she needed to clear her head there was something she needed to remember. She heard a moan next to her. "Pete!" she suddenly screamed and shot upright. "Pete" she said again trying to clear his mind. "Pete, wake up we need to get back to the warehouse"

"What?" Pete asked his head was pounding. She said to trust her and then she shot him. More importantly Sykes had his mother, what were they doing with her? Why her?

"Pete! We have to get back to Warehouse" Claudia said grabbing his arm to make him start moving, they didn't have much time.

"We have to save my mother!" Pete said to her.

"We will" Claudia replied. "That's why we have to get back to warehouse, like now" she said still gripping his shirt as she made him run with her outside the parking garage and down the street to their car. She already called Steve and told him start it so they could leave quickly.

"I wasn't getting any bad vibes from Myka" Pete said trying to keep her pace while his mind was still reeling about everything's that's happened.

"I know" Claudia said. "And you won't" she looked back at him with a smile. She felt her pocket to make sure it whatever it was, was still there. HG told her not to open until they were in the warehouse.

Tbc…


	9. Chapter 9

**Ch 9**

**Illusions of Betrayal**

HG Wells was a mustache twirling super villain so her escape from limbo prison wasn't that surprising, what shocked the warehouse team to their very core was who helped her escape.

* * *

><p><strong>Part 2: The Turn<strong>

Myka huddled closer to Helena as they looked through the hazy rain for the island. Helena had managed to pass her note to Claudia without Sykes or Marcus noticing. She was grateful for the small miracles they had been allowed since they started this mission.

She felt Helena's arm on hers, grasping it lightly and moving it away from her other arm. She had to remind herself to stop touching her sleeve. They had come this far, they needed to finish it to save the Warehouse.

Ile d'lf was a white lump rising from the dark ocean. The chateau had closed at five thirty and aside from a lone navigation beacon pulsing red against the night sky, the island was completely dark. Marcus Diamond steered the boat into the cove and shut it off when they reached the shore. They climbed out of the boat. Myka and Helena helped Jane as they carefully walked over the rain soaked rocks until they reached the wall of the chateau.

The five of them lowered themselves behind the jagged rock platform and waited for the lone guard on this side to make his rounds. Once he was in range Helena pointed her Tesla at him and he went down. Marcus went over to the fallen guard to tie him up. Marcus and Walter took Jane in the opposite direction to take care of the other guard and to wait for them. He told them if they weren't back in two hours he'd kill Jane. It took all Helena had not to roll her eyes at his overdramatic villain antics. They knew he wouldn't kill her, he still thought he needed her.

They started down the steps. On the landing they found a wooden trap door on the ground, secured to the stone lip by a padlock latch. The padlock looked new however the latch itself was old and rusted by years of exposure to the salt air. Myka pulled out a mini crowbar and gently wiggled the latch free of the wood. They both crotched down and lifted the hatch slowly so it wouldn't squeak. Myka turned on her flashlight and peered into the dark shaft. A wooden ladder dropped into the shaft, it was bolted into the stone but it looked as old as the latch.

They looked at each other than started climbing down slowly with their flashlights in their mouths. Helena ducked down the second wrung and shut the hatch behind her, leaving a gap for her fingers and flipped the latch back into place so it wouldn't look like it was tampered with. The ladder creaked and shifted, the bolts rasping inside their stone holes. With her flashlight in her mouth Myka looked to see how much further they had, she gave a worried look up at Helena and continued down.

With a splintering crack, the rung beneath her gave and lurched downward. She grabbed for the next rung to stop her fall, but the sudden shift in her weight was too much for the ladder and it started twisting sideways. With a shriek and a pop the bolts gave away and both fell slamming into the stone back first.

They both groaned and blinked rapidly. "Helena, are you ok?"

"Myka are you alright?"

"Yes, that's going to leave a mark but otherwise I'm fine. You? " Myka replied rolling over slowly letting the pain subside. They were lucky that they didn't have that much further to go the impact could've been far worse.

"Me as well" Helena replied rubbing her back. She spotted their flashlights and slowly got up to retrieve them and handed Myka hers.

Myka shone the flashlight along the walls her mind recalling the map, then pointed towards the passageway they need to follow. They were in the upper dungeon level, there was another below them and below that was the oubliettes. They started down the passageway; they shined their lights on the dozen tiny coal pit cells, the steel doors having been removed for safety purposes.

They kept going passing more and more tiny cells. Myka shuttered being here almost felt like being in the dark vault of the warehouse, the sense of dread and despair was heavy. To Helena it felt like the ghosts of the imprisoned still haunted the place. Myka reached for her hand and she took it gladly. This was not a place they wanted to linger in so they quickened their pace.

They finally came to a wooded door with no lock. The placard said in French. DO NOT ENTER, AUTHORIZED PERSONAL ONLY. Helena placed her finger through the latch and pulled, the door swung open an inch. The hinges creaked as she pulled the door the rest of the way open and slid through with Myka following and easing the door shut behind her.

They were in four foot by four foot room, to the right of the door was a ledge and to the left was a cylindrical stairwell. They picked their way down the tight steps to the next landing and found another door. They stepped through and entered another tunnel, this one barely four feet wide and five feet tall forcing them to duck as they made their way down the tunnel.

The Regents had hidden it well. An average person would not be able to find it. There were even move cells after they exited the tunnel but unlike their counterparts on the upper level where the tours went through these were still equipped with their vertically barred doors that were still locked.

Scanning the walls as they went with their flashlights, Myka found what they were looking for a ten foot long side tunnel set into the left hand wall. They went through that tunnel and found another hatch. They pried it open and found another ladder that appeared to go down at least six feet. Helena went down first, then Myka followed this on was sturdier and they both made it down to the ground without incident. And they were met with a tunnel that was even narrower and shorter making them have to get down on their knees and crawl while holding their flashlights in their mouths.

Helena would've appreciated the view in front of her more if the ground wasn't filthily and various bugs weren't skittering around them.

They went down the tunnel until they reached a steel barred black square in the floor. They were smashed up next to each other as they examined the grate, the hinges and latch had been removed and the bars were scabrous with corrosion. At the same time they gripped the grate tightly and lifted it free coughing from the dust as they fell backwards.

They set it aside and peered down, the oubliette lay at the bottom of a narrow six foot long shaft, the cell itself was four feet to a side and three feet deep – neither wide enough for a prisoner to lie fully prone nor tall enough to stand without being bent at the waist.

Helena had been in different prisons in her life, the most recent had taken her identity and replaced it with another, however her own conciseness was nowhere, she remembered nothing of what happened and that was almost a blessing from the bronzing. There she knew everything that was happening and could see everything that happening. She saw the warehouse fill up, she saw the various agents come and go. Life moved, time passed, her mind worked but she was frozen. She traveled through time as an immobile object and it drove her mad. Time only heals all wounds when you can actually move forward.

"Helena?" she heard Myka's soft voice break through her thoughts. She closed her eyes, opened them and looked at the young woman's concerned face and smiled at her.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine" Helena replied. Maybe it was all worth it. She had, had many lovers but none had as much empathy as her strong willed Myka. It was her empathy that gave her the strength to move on, to move forward.

"Do you want me to go down there?" Myka asked watching Helena's features. Her face had become the mask she wore so well once again. But she had seen it, the fear in her eyes, the sadness. That prison down there reminded her of her own.

"I'm quite alright, darling. And I'm smaller than you" she replied.

"I'll manage" Myka told her.

"Nonsense" Helena said and moved to quickly for Myka to react and lowered herself into the tiny cell. "What I could use is a long hot bath when we're through with this" she shouted up at Myka.

"I'm not going to argue with that" Myka replied and handed Helena the crowbar. But they were not done with this. Helena bottling her feelings inside was never good for anyone. She wasn't in prison and she wasn't alone anymore.

Dropping down on her hands and knees she clicked on her torch and stuck it between her teeth. After two minutes of feeling around the cell she spotted a picture on one of the blocks. She worked to pry a gap, inching the block away from the wall. With a grunt she pulled it free, then she dropped to her belly to shine the light inside. She sighed and reached her hand inside to feel along the wall. With her arm elbow deep inside the wall her hand hit something hard and she pulled it out. It was a small plain wooden box, she opened it and inside laid the final piece of the map.

She rolled the map of carefully and placed in the cylinder on her waist. She pushed the block into place. Myka reached down and pulled her out of the cell.

Tbc…


	10. Chapter 10

**Illusions of Betrayal**

HG Wells was a mustache twirling super villain so her escape from limbo prison wasn't that surprising, what shocked the warehouse team to their very core was who helped her escape.

**Part 3: The Prestige**

Pete and Steve had tried to get Claudia to talk the whole ride back to the Warehouse. But she had told them she couldn't say anything until they were inside the Warehouse, it wasn't safe. They made their way down the corridor and opened the door. Once they were all inside and Artie had joined them. Claudia shut the door and smiled at them.

"They didn't betray us" Claudia began telling them. She reached in her pocket and pulled out the device HG had slipped in her pocket. She placed it on the floor and pressed the button. A light shot up from it and two dark haired women formed.

"Mykes?" Pete said to the Hologram.

The recorded voice started speaking. "Pete" she said with a small smile. "I'm sorry I had to do this without telling you, that's the part I hated the most. But in order for it to work, all of you had to really think I betrayed you." They watched the blue hued Myka look at something to her side and nod her head. "I don't have time to explain everything now, I will but after all of us save the world" She said with a smile. Myka's hologram was replaced by a map.

Pete, Claudia and Steve turned their heads towards Artie as he sucked in his breath loudly. Myka continued speaking. "Artie, I know you know what this and as you are watching this we are on our way to retrieving the final piece of it. Mrs. Fredrick will be there to take you to us. please hurry" the Myka hologram said and everything shut off.

And just like that Mrs. Fredrick appeared and motioned them to follow her. They walked outside as they heard the loud whirring sound of a plane. A sleek silver jet that looked almost invisible when the sun bounced off it, landed in front of them.

"Cool!" Pete and Steve couldn't hide their childish excitement in seeing such a jet. They all ran inside it and buckled up. A regent that the agents didn't recognize was in the pilot seat. Artie seemed to know him as they greeted each other and Artie took the co-pilots seat.

"You're going to need this" Mrs. Frederick said handing Claudia a metronome.

Pete was grateful that Myka wasn't evil and he didn't need a yellow crayon story to bring her back from the darkness, that and he didn't have one. He guessed that meant HG wasn't evil as well, which was a good thing for Myka. She didn't get vibes but she was a good judge of character. And now they were off to save the world like they were always supposed too.

Helena and Myka met up with Skyes in the main foyer of the prison. He had Jane tied to a chair, he was standing next to her. He smiled wide when he saw them. "It seems the four of us do make a great team"

They smiled at him as he walked over to a table that he had already spread out the other two pieces of the map. Helena and Myka followed. Skyes held out his hand and Helena handed over the canister. He opened like a child opening their first Christmas present. The final piece of the map spilled out of the canister. They watched as it unfolded itself and attached itself to the other maps fitting together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. The light spread across it sealing it together.

All of them looked at the map in awe as the land masses on the map started moving and changing like an animation come to life. The map depicted two large enclosed seas, the Mediterranean being the first one and the Indian Ocean being the other, which extended into the South China Sea in the east. The major locations that they could make out on it was Europe, the Middle East, India and China. The map began to swirl around and change again. They were watching the creation of the world in reverse. The lands, the ocean and lakes continued to shift around, then as if they had hit zoom a piece of land grew and filled up the page as they zoomed in closer and closer toward it.

"The Kingdom of Macedonia" Helena said incredulously.

"See, that's why we are one in the same" Sykes said to them. "Therein lies the greatest artifact of them all"

"Which is?" Helena and Myka asked, they had come this far, done this much. They wanted the answer the Regents and Mrs. Frederick wouldn't give them.

"This is what they never wanted anyone to find so they buried it along with the location of the Warehouse." Walter Skyes smiled "The Gordian Knot"

"The Gordian Knot" Myka repeated in shock. She knew about the Knot, it was made from hundreds of tightly interwoven complex thongs of cornel bark with no ends exposed, the legend said that anyone that can unfasten the knot would conquer the world. Alexander the Great took his sword and cut the knot in half and went on to earn his name.

Myka looked at Helena; there was no way they could let Sykes get his hands on one of the most dangerous artifacts in existence.

"I plan on being the greatest conqueror that ever lived!" He then turned to Jane. "But this is just a map of where it is, we need the key to open the door." He folded the map and walked over to her. He grabbed her wrist roughly and pulled her sleeve back to reveal the Remati Shackle.

The Shackle was made by Genghis Khan during the Mongol Empire to protect the Warehouse at all costs. Jane told them that Genghis Khan scoured the globe looking for something unbreakable. He found a piece from the very first warehouse and used that to forge the shackle.

They watched as Walter Skyes took a compass out of his pocket and held it over her arm. His brows furrowed when nothing happened. He shook the compass and held it over her arm again. "Why isn't it working!" he bellowed angrily.

"Maybe because you didn't say pretty please"

Sykes whipped his head around at the voice to the left of him and saw Agent Pete Lattimer pointing a gun at him and Arthur Nielson stood next to him. Sykes turned to Marcus and saw that he was on his knees with his hands behind his head with Steve standing behind pointing a gun at him and Claudia holding the metronome.

He looked back and saw HG Wells also had her gun drawn and pointed at him.

"You really thought we'd betray everything we've been fighting for because we were mad?" Myka said to him.

"Get away from my mother" Pete said digging his gun into the back of Sykes head. Sykes held up his hands. Pete handed Artie his gun and forced Skyes to his knees and pulled his arms behind to handcuff him. "Mom, are you okay?" he asked her.

"I'm fine, thank you" She replied. When he was done with Sykes he went around started unties him mom.

Steve started to handcuff Marcus when he tried to knock his head back into his. Steve moved back just as a jolt of electricity sailed past him and hit Marcus who then fell to the ground unconscious. He looked at Claudia holding her mini Tesla and smiled.

Myka grimaced and looked down at her arm she pulled back her sleeve to see the Remati Bracelet turn bright red.

"You had it the whole time?" Skyes asked staring at Myka in disbelief.

Myka screamed and grabbed her wrist as the bracelet continued to burn into her skin. "Myka!" Helena said worriedly and grabbed onto her hold her up.

"Mykes!" Pete said running over to her. Claudia ran over to help HG hold her up. The three of them looked over Myka to see a portal start to open up behind them and before any of them could say anything they were sucked in it.

They picked themselves off the ground that they were thrown onto and looked around. They were in a cave.

"What is this?" Claudia asked since they still had no idea what Skyes was after.

Helena smiled and looked at them. "Welcome to Warehouse 1."

Tbc…


	11. Chapter 11

**Illusions of Betrayal**

HG Wells was a mustache twirling super villain so her escape from limbo prison wasn't that surprising, what shocked the warehouse team to their very core was who helped her escape.

**Part 3: The Prestige**

They looked around the rugged and weary walls of the cavernous room they were in and shivered. Their breaths came out as whips of smoke the cold air filled every corner; warmth seemed to have never reached this place.

"Myka" Helena said walking over to her. "How is your wrist?" She asked worriedly.

Myka looked down at her wrist the bracelet was still glowing and giving them their only light in the dark cave. "It doesn't hurt anymore" she replied.

They peered around the only exit out of the room they were in to the left was solid rock and to the right a tunnel where they could see a faint pulsing light. The light got brighter as they neared it; it was in another cavern that was only slightly larger than the one they left. The difference with this one was, a pedestal stood in the middle with a glowing sword embedded in stone on top of it.

"The sword in the stone!" Pete said with childish glee "Do you think this is King Arthur's?" he asked.

"Pete!" the three women yelled as he ran up the steps and took hold of the sword. The second he touched he was thrown backwards into the wall. Claudia and Myka ran to him. "I guess I don't get be King" Pete said using the wall the pull himself up and rubbing his back.

"That's because you are not wearing the key" HG told him and looked at Myka.

"What?" Myka asked incredulously. "Me?"

"Sykes said the bracelet is the key and you are wearing the bracelet, Darling. So I believe you can retrieve the sword" She said to her as she neared the pedestal and walked around it. "I believe we need to retrieve Alexander's sword to gain entrance into the warehouse"

"Alexander?" Pete asked.

"Alexander the Great. He's the one that had this warehouse built" HG said to him as she looked at Myka.

Myka took a deep breath and slowly made her way up the steps. She walked up them and stood near the sword. She studied it for a bit then looked at Claudia who nodded at her, she looked to Pete. "If it fails it only hurts a little bit" he said with a smile. And then to Helena who smiled and nodded her head towards the sword.

Myka's hands hovered around the hilt of the sword, she gripped and lifted, it slid out easily. She looked at her wrist and watched as the glow from the bracelet traveled through her hands into the sword making the sword grow brighter.

Suddenly the wall in front of the pedestal started sliding open. "Uh…guys" Claudia said as she watched the entrance they came through start to close. Pete ran over to try and stop it. He reached it just as it did.

Helena was too enthralled seeing Myka standing on the pedestal with the sword in her hand the glow illuminated her ivory skin making her look every bit as regal as Alexander himself.

Pete felt all around the rock to try and open the door again. "Well I guess we don't get to chose which way we go" he announced to the room and walked back to them.

Myka looked down at the sword, It was called a Kopis which translated to cut or to strike. It was a single edged blade that angled forward towards the point. The edge was narrow near the hilt and the blade swelled towards the tip. This design allowed Kopis to deliver a blow with the momentum and power of an axe, while retaining the lengthy cutting edge of a sword. It was an interesting weapon.

A leather sheath appeared on the pedestal so she put it on and put the sword in it. She walked down the steps to join the rest of her team as they stared at the new doorway in front of them.

They stepped through the opening they were in a larger cavern, here the walls were as smooth as ice and it was even colder. On the ground were two pools of dark water separated by a two inch wide pathway leading to the other side. Claudia picked up a loose pebble and threw it into the pool on the right. Immediately hundreds of sharp teeth appeared biting at the surface. Pete swallowed staring at the sharp toothed fish.

Their eyes were drawn to the other pool, a large dark shape appeared and fin sliced through the water. He walked closer to the edge to inspect it. "Pete" Claudia called his name.

Pete turned around to face them his eyes filled with wonder. "It's Sixgill shark" he told him. "A big one. They are faster than a Great White and have much worse bite."The woman looked at him. "What? I live every week like it's Shark week!" he pumping his fists in the air.

"What is this Shark week?" Helena asked and looked to Myka.

"A television channel devotes an entire week to shows about sharks" She told her. Helena nodded her head. She didn't have a chance to ever study sharks, but they were fascinating creatures.

"These are deep sea sharks" he continued. "Which means…"

"We're underwater" Claudia finished for him.

"That would be a good place to hide the warehouse" Myka replied. She looked around the cave, they were thousands of miles underneath the ocean. "And that explains why it's so cold" Myka said holding her arms against her chest.

"Well, I was actually going to say. Under the sea. Under the sea. Darling its better, down where it's wetter. Take it from me" Pete started singing in a Jamaican accent. Myka shook her head and smiled widely.

"Come on, everyone loves the Little Mermaid" he said when the woman again were staring at him.

Myka looked at the slippery wet rocks of the beam they had to cross to get the other side of the cavern. It was slightly above the water, but falling into the water on either side meant death. "Maybe I should go last since I have the sword" she suggested.

"I think that it means you should go first" Claudia replied. Myka looked at the young agent. "Not…because…I just meant you have the key, so you hold the power" she said biting her lip apologetically.

"I agree with Claudia" Helena said. "Whomever holds the key can open the door"

"Right" Myka replied quietly as she looked at the beam. She stepped closer to it, her heart rate sped up so she closed her eyes to try and calm it. She took a tentative step forward, then placed her other foot right in front and held her arms out. She kept her eyes on the wall in front of her and put one foot in front of the other. She sighed in relief when she reached the other side.

She turned around to wait for the rest of them. Claudia went next. "You know I never had a chance to take gymnastics" she said as she took a deep breath and started across. Try not to look down she told herself and of course that made her look down. The one pool was calm but she knew that a bunch of bitey fish were under there, the other pool held the shadow of deep sea shark. She took a step and her foot slipped, she managed to stabilize but now she was too afraid to move. She closed her eyes.

"Claud" Myka said. "You're doing great, just open your eyes and walk towards me" She walked close to the beam and held her hand out to her. "You're almost here"

Claudia opened her eyes and looked at Myka. "Keep your eyes on me" she told her. Claudia started walking and let out the breath she had been holding when she reached out and clasped her hands through Myka's.

Pete went next and kept trying to get a glimpse of the shark and jumped the last few feet onto the platform. Myka smiled as Helena gracefully walked across the beam like she was walking across a solid floor not near a pool of death.

"Now what?" Pete asked staring at the stone wall in front of them. Myka looked around and walked closer to the wall where she saw something engraved on it. "There's something written here" she told them. It was in Greek. "What is it which swallows what is before it and what is behind it, as well as anyone who is watching?" They looked at her with furrowed brows so she then read the second line. "Those we caught, we threw away, Those we could not catch, we kept."

"Those sounds like riddles" HG said joining Myka and reading them over again. Then she smiled. "These are riddles from the Oracle at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. The High Priestess Pythia was the one that foretold of Alexander's conquests."

"So we have to solve the riddles to get through the door?" Pete asked, and then looked at all of them.

"Let me have a look" Claudia said. "I spent a lot time solving riddles in the Psych ward. What were they again?"

Myka read them again. She squinted her eyes when she saw a third line appear that wasn't there before. "There's another line, it says both riddles must be solved together for the answer to one is the answer for the other."

"So this oracle made the warning another riddle?" Pete said. "I hate riddles" he shook his head.

* * *

><p>"Claudia!" Steve yelled and ran to her as the four of them just disappeared into the portal. When he got there the portal was gone. He turned to look to Artie who still held Sykes at gunpoint. "We have to go get them"<p>

"We can't, Myka has the key" Jane told him as she stood up. She picked up the map that had fallen on the floor. The land masses had rearranged themselves back into the modern world. So they had no idea where the Warehouse was located.

"Why is Myka wearing the Remati Bracelet?" Artie asked Jane with accusation in his tone. He knew what that meant and he didn't understand was why he wasn't notified. "She's my agent, don't you think I had the right to know?"

"In order for this to work you had to believe Myka had turned" Jane said to him. "I'm sorry, Artie" she said sincerely.

"We can discuss this at a later time. First we must get these two bronzed before anything else happens" Mrs. Frederic said appearing behind them.

"We can't leave them there" Steve said looking around at them wondering why none of them were as worried as he was.

"We will find them and bring them home. However bronzing Mr. Sykes and Mr. Diamond is our top priority, Agent Jinx" Mrs. Frederick said to him. "Now go hold onto Mr. Diamond while I take Mr. Nielson and Mr. Skyes" She said and nodded at Jane.

"What to do you mean, take hold of" Artie asked as Mrs. Frederic walked over to him. She picked up Pete's fallen Tesla and shot Sykes with it. Arthur stepped back in shock as Skyes fell face forward onto the ground.

"It will be easier to travel with this way. However I am sorry the travel will not be easy for you" She told him. "Will you help me lift him up?" She asked. Arthur did and he looked at her finally getting what was going on. "You mean…?" he said as she took hold of his shoulder.

* * *

><p>Claudia stood there thinking about both riddles in her head. Suddenly the ground shook beneath them. "What was that?" Pete asked as the ground shook again. He looked around and saw the shark charging underneath the water ramming into the side they were standing on. Rocks started falling from the ceiling. They jumped out of the way and pushed themselves against the side of the cavern walls. "It can never be easy, can it?"<p>

Myka looked at the riddles trying to think, she put her hand out to steady herself on the wall as the shark kept ramming into the ledge. "Guys..anyone…Bueller?" Pete asked holding himself felt against the wall to not get hit by falling rocks.

"Time Flies" Claudia shouted, they all turned to look at her. The rumbling stopped as quickly as it started and the wall in front slid open. Claudia exhaled loudly, trying to calm her beating heart.

"Way to go, Claud" Pete said slapping her on the back. "Don't know how you got it, but glad you did"

HG smiled at her. "Very impressive, Claudia" she told her. Claudia smiled back at the older woman. "I figured out the first one easily, the second one was giving me trouble, but now I see it"

They stepped through the door into a giant circular pit; in the middle was a table with numbers arranged in a hexagon shape. Helena walked over to it, there were nineteen numbers. She read the Greek writing on the top of the table. "It is absurd to hold that a man should be ashamed of an inability to defend himself with his limbs, but not ashamed of an inability to defend himself with speech and reason; for the use of rational speech is more distinctive of a human being than the use of his limbs."

"Aristotle" Myka replied. "Alexander's teacher"

"Yes, however I do not agree with that. There are some that are beyond logic and reason and for those I believe you should be able to kick their ass"

Myka furrowed her brows at her and smiled. It was strange to hear Helena use a modern term like, ass.

Helena studied the puzzle and picked up one of the numbered blocks. She turned it over. "Apparently the goal of this is to rearrange the numbers so each of the fifteen rows add up to thirty eight." She told them after reading the inscription.

"Is it getting hotter in here to anyone else?" Pete asked noticing the heat after freezing his ass for the last hour and half.

"Yep, noticed that too" Claudia replied looking around and using the collar of her shirt to fan her face. They all felt their feet start to burn and jumped closer to the table. When they looked behind them they saw that the cavern walls had started turn red as well as the ground near the now closed entrance-way. "The rocks are heating up" She said and ran over to Helena.

"So they plan to cook us if we don't solve this, do they?" Helena said when Myka was next to her. "I love a challenge" she said with a grin.

"Good, then hurry up so we don't get barbecued" Pete said when he Claudia joined them. The ground was heating up in pieces, so standing next to table seemed the safest for the moment.

"I could write a program that would solve this easy" Claudia said staring at the puzzle.

"That defeats the purpose young Claudia" HG said to her. "This is a puzzle for the best technology of all. The human mind" Helena picked up the number 15 and placed it at the top of the hexagon, her mind was racing with the possibilities to make thirty eight. Without being able to at least write it down she had to remember everything in her head.

After a few minutes she had to wipe the sweat from her brow and it wasn't because she was thinking hard. The room had become an oven. Her eyes rapidly scanned the puzzle again.

The look of deep concentration looked very sexy on her. And Myka would've enjoyed it if it didn't feel like she was being cooked alive. Now she just wanted her to hurry up so they didn't die.

"Can you hurry it up Einstein" Pete said to her hoarsely, his throat was dry and he was ringing out his soaking wet shirt. He looked to Claudia who had fallen to a sitting position and was barely able to hold her head up. "Claudia" he said going to her. He wanted to help hold her up but his body heat would make it even worse. "You gotta…stand" he said as he saw the red of the heated rocks getting closer to them. When she didn't respond he walked over to hand dragged her closer to the table.

HG Wells wiped her hand across her neck and shook out the sweat from her hand. Her shirt was soaked through, her mouth felt like she had swallowed cotton balls and she had to keep shaking her head to concentrate. The heat was getting to her and making harder to think about what she was doing.

She leaned her hand on the table to hold herself steady while her eyes bore into the puzzle trying to make her mind stay awake. She jumped when she felt something on her hand; she looked over to see Myka had put her hand on hers. Helena looked at her lover and she looked as awful as she felt. She looked like she had jumped into a pool of lava. She was soaked to the bone, her dark curls dripping like a waterfall down her shirt and her face was bright red. Myka gave her a weak smile.

And that was enough; Helena felt a slight sense of invigoration. She looked down at the puzzle again and started placing the pieces again. She exhaled and placed the last number down and waited with bated breath.

A glow filled the cracks of the hexagon and the number disappeared. She almost wanted to cry when she saw that happen. She had failed. But then a slight breeze started to fill the room and then it got gradually colder. They all threw their heads back, put their arms to sides and reveled in the cool air.

They smiled at each other as the door slid open. "Do you think we're done?" Pete asked as they entered the next room. The chill was back and they were in the biggest cavern yet. They looked up in the darkness and couldn't even see where the ceiling was.

Then they heard a loud screeching sound in the distance and they all whipped their heads to look at Pete. "What? Yeah, I know I shouldn't have said that." he said innocently as they heard flapping sounds coming right towards them.

Tbc…


End file.
